Chapter 55

"This one." She said again. He tried to perceive it but he didn't get it.

"What?"

"The mirror..."

She looked confused. He just realized she was showing an oak frame mirror carved with leaves and acorns to him.

"What do you think?"

It took a long while for him to recover from the momentary lapse.

"Lovely. I'll take this one."

He took the mirror from her and pretended to scrutinize it.

"Thanks for your help. Really appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

She felt a bit nervous after the awkward situation a moment ago, so she made an excuse for leaving.

"I have to go back to the inn now."

"Where are you staying?"

"Magnolia Inn. And you?"

"You won't believe it."

He couldn't tell if Heaven was trying to give him a sign or put him into the test over and over again. Either way, he wouldn't miss this chance. If it was a sign, he would follow the guidance, otherwise he would just test his limit.

"Seriously?" She looked at him in disbelief.

"How curious."

"Let me walk with you to the inn." He said unexpectedly.

"That... that would be inappropriate."

She was quite taken aback by his invitation.

"We are in a strange place. Nobody knows who we are."

He was right. Nobody would care about it here.

"All right."

She said before she had the time to think twice or change her mind.

As they walked out of the shop, she stole a glance at him. A man like him was like a bird of prey in the sky, beautiful yet far beyond her reach. She could only admire him from a distance. But now when he was so close, walking by her side, talking to her, with no one else between, she could pretend that he was all hers.

"The greatest moments in life come unexpectedly." her mother once said. "You cannot plan them, they catch us, they seize us, not the other way around."

Just like this time, and why wouldn't she let it seize her?

Ava noticed that he didn't offer her his arm as gentlemen usually did to their female acquaintance. Perhaps it was a little reminder of her place even in this stolen moment. But she wouldn't let it bother her.

"I doubt you will ever be able to escape people's notices everywhere you go, but here you don't need to worry about their opinions and judgements."

She said after some time, fully aware of some curious stares following them all along.

"Exactly."

It seemed that he really enjoyed the momentary freedom.

"It feels good to be just another nameless face in the crowd. To be seen with no expectation."

His answer got her thinking.

"I suppose it's not easy to be someone like you. All the needs to comply with the requirements and to meet people's expectations all the time..."

She observed him with eager curiosity.

"Is this a kind of life that you want?"

"It doesn't matter what I want. My life is not my own to do as I please. There are many things to consider and there are my family and my people to do right by."

From his answer, she was certain that he was taught to live with an attitude of self-sacrifice. She remembered when she asked him how he felt about his uncle's order to eliminate the villains. She remembered perfectly he said something like this.

'Like it or not, somebody has to do it.'

"Don't you think it's burdensome to have to meet the approval of someone else in everything you do?" She asked again.

"It's the consequences of being in my position. I've found a way to cope with requirements and demands at an early age."

"Have you ever imagined how does it feel to live another life that is totally different from your life now?"

"What do you mean another life?"

"I ofttimes wondered would I be happier if I were someone else, if I did different things... Just imagine if you were free to choose, what would you do with your life?"

He was silent for a long while, she started to think she had crossed the line.

"I think I'll be a painter and travel around the world to learn from the world's greatest artists."

The moment he said it, it surprised him to realize just how much similarities between him and his father. What he wanted was just exactly what his father did. But there was a huge difference between them. He didn't let passion overtake him. He made different choices.

"If you were given the chance, would you choose a life of your own free will

over your life now?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I believe this is for the best."

"For who?"

"For everyone... I wasn't born to this world out of my own free will. I was born because of the will of my parents and my family. There's a purpose for my existence, and it is more important than my own aspiration. I have to carry out my duties. If I just leave to pursue my own passion, there will be severe consequences not only for me, it will impact on many people, many things..."

Both of them lost in their own deep thinking. She thought of how very different he was from Magnus. Magnus was free-spirited, he was not constrained by social convention, and when it came to his passion, nothing could hold him back. Magnus wouldn't let something like obligation or responsibility to his family burden him, let alone stopping him from pursuing what he really wanted.

Ahead of them, suddenly a boy in ragged, dirty clothes dashed from the opposite side of the street, colliding with a well-dressed country gentleman on his way.

Ava startled when Ashton snatched the boy as he rushed past them, knocking something out of him. A chain watch fell on the ground. The boy's face went pale, and he tried to run off, but a steely grip in his hand held him in place. Ava watched in consternation as he spun the boy around so the little pickpocket stood with them facing the same direction. The poor boy flinched in distress. Looking at how thin the boy was, she couldn't help feeling a great pity for him. His bones stuck out and his dirty face looked gaunt.

"Wait, please....." She put a hand on his arm.

"Sir." Ashton called the gentleman.

"You dropped something."